Hey all, I'm way late to the discussion (and the getaway) but thought I'd throw in my experience.On my '01, I did have to drill and tap the port side hole for the bridle eye strap. I quickly found two things: the boat must be dead center on the trailer to get the stepper to work - otherwise one bridle won't reach. And, the factory rings make "stiff" seem positively easy - so I just replaced them with larger rings with a bent-in end - seafit 3/4 cotter rings #272302 in particular.I also found the shock cord to be loose - but it's not been an issue as the cord only keeps the gin pole foot in place long enough to get pressure down the gin pole.I found that the sway is minimal which raising if you are careful about the lie of the boat - and putting the trailer nose downhill a little helps.I did make two modifications. One, the little block in the kit really screams under the maximum load with the mast at around 45 degrees - so I replaced it with a snap-shackle block about three times the diameter - and I attached the snap-shackle end to an eyestrap on my bow stop. Now the force is all on the trailer and the bow stays down while raising. (my trailer is a custom job from the rental place that originally bought the boat. I have just had to redo most of it with galvanized beams so I was able to create a very strong bow stop.)The second modification was with the cotter pins. Since these head for the dirt at every opportunity, I used some light line and a small electrical eye terminal to make the pins and rings captive to the bridles. (the head of the pin won't go through the eye terminal, and the line is figure 8 knotted and passes through the wire attachment fitting of the terminal.) Now I don't worry about losing them at all.I'd be happy to send detail photos to anyone interested.

We would love some photos of your mast raising set-up. We will order the Hobie Mast Stepper III this week. My husband needs to be able to raise the mast with only the help of our 13 year old daughter since I don't plan to sail with them every time.

I got mast stepper III and like it. follow directions, check the knots.the shock cord to hold pole base to mast was too long, so i added some lineand went around mast again and tied to shock cord. you may or may not have to dothis. you want the pole base to be secure to mast as it is the lever arm pulling up mast.take your time gets easier with practice I also use a 6' step ladder to rest mast on beingcareful it doesn't slip off..doug

We would love some photos of your mast raising set-up. We will order the Hobie Mast Stepper III this week. My husband needs to be able to raise the mast with only the help of our 13 year old daughter since I don't plan to sail with them every time.

Mary Ann, I have put up some photos I took raising the mast with the stepper on Flickr. Take a look, I've included descriptions with most of the photos as well. I hope this is helpful. Best of luck to you, your husband, and your daughter - I can't wait till my daughter is 13 and wants to sail with me! At 6, its just boring for her.

Please post all pages of Mast Stepper III instructions. I do not quite get it and do not want to order it if this is going to be too much work.PLEASE, maybe Matt can HELP with that...

Cezar, I have a PDF I can send you, email me at my username at gmail and I will forward it to you. Also, take a look at the photos I posted above to see the level of complexity. I will say that my preferred raising method is with two people, using the winch to just assist pulling on the furler drum strap, not using the whole stepper rig. However, I am often finding myself sailing alone and the stepper is the way to go!

The instructions are talking about Hobie Cat Kit # 37650300 on the last page. This is the kit to prevent a boat from moving on a trailer. What does it include and how much it costs ?Thank you Matt for the info.

I have the Getaway mast-raising system, and it does work. I can raise and lower myself, although it is a bit technical. I just take my time, referring continually to the instructions. It was worth the wait from it's initial back-ordering status.

The instructions are talking about Hobie Cat Kit # 37650300 on the last page. This is the kit to prevent a boat from moving on a trailer. What does it include and how much it costs ?Thank you Matt for the info.

Cezar, this is to my understanding similar to the bow stop I fabbed up that you can see made of wood with a metal strut in the photos I posted.Hope that helps till Matt gives us the real skinny!

Hey Matt, maybe you can help here. I purchased the Stepper for my Getaway and followed instructions. The first use went fine, raising the mast myself. A year later, I lowered it for a trip to a distant lake. There, when raising it, the mast-base clamp twisted and failed. Fortunately my crew was there and we solved it. In summary, only 3 uses, and one part failure.

Searching through my dealer I learned Hobie offers no assistance in getting the new part, rather directing me to the manufacturer. I thought they'd be eager to know about a failed part, and with good customer service would replace it. I've spoken to Wil-Fab three times, each time the employee promsies that the owner, Skeet Walker, will call back, and each time he has failed to do so.

What can you do to leverage Hobie for a resolution? Thanks,Bill

_________________Experienced monohull sailer, new to Hobies. I chose a Getaway to get started. Sailing in Northern Calif.

We just don't have parts for these things... we simply purchase complete assemblies. I can only assume a failure to keep the mast rotated has damaged the part in question. We don't see many issues with them. The guy bought this company from the people who started EZ-Step as a product, so he is not savy on the product... just builds them and builds in batches, so doesn't stock spares.

Can you photo the part needed or indicate on the instructions what it is? Maybe we have a damaged unit we can scavenge parts from.